Poppa Dork
by Hawk
Summary: When Seta one day doesn't manage to beat the odds piled against him, Keitaro is stunned to realise that the eccentric archaeologist has left nearly everything to his young protege. Including Sarah and Nyamo!
1. One

Love Hina - Poppa Dork 

Poppa DorkPG-13  
Niklas "Hawk" Jonsson 

Summary: When Seta one day doesn't manage to beat the odds piled against him, Keitaro is stunned to realise that the eccentric archaeologist has left everything to his young protege. Including Sarah and Nyamo! Keitaro now finds himself a single father, trying to live his life and taking care of his new job, while raising his young 'daughters'.

Disclaimer: Love Hina, Hinata Sou and whatnot are not mine, though I certainly wish they were. The story is mine though, all mine.

Feedback/Flames: Yes, please. Both of them are equally fun to read, although I must admit that I greatly prefer the first variety. :)  
I can be found on ICQ as 21771860, MSN Messenger or through e-mail as , more stories are available at my nifty lil' site at or by clicking on my handle up above.

"speech"  
emphasis/shouts/Kindred Domination/post-hypnotic triggers  
/thoughts/  
/telepathy/  
translation  
soundeffect/radio/telephone conversation/TV

* * *

Chapter One:

"How... How is he?" Keitaro asked as the doctor entered the waiting room, a tired look in his eyes and a worn expression on his face. Sarah shuddered in her sleep, curled up on the couch with her head resting in his lap, but didn't wake up. Nyamo was sitting in the seat next to him, but she too had fallen asleep and was leaning against his right shoulder.

"Are you a relative of Noriyasu-san?" the doctor inquired and Keitaro felt immediately grateful once again that the hospital had a Japanese doctor working there, as he wasn't sure that he would have been up to the task of speaking and listening to English right now. Especially since the Pararakeese apparently didn't speak any better English then he did, the few that spoke it at all!

"He has no living relatives, even Sarah here is adopted." Keitaro replied.

"Who are you to Noriyasu-san?" the doctor asked, clearly reluctant to reveal anything to anyone none-related.

"Assistant, protege, babysitter and friend." Keitaro replied after a few moments, which caused the doctor to hesitate. For a while, it looked as if he wasn't going to say anything, but after a glance at Sarah and Keitaro's hand stroking her golden hair, calming the fitfully sleeping child down, he relented.

"I'm afraid that I have bad news, Urashima-san." the doctor said, letting out a tired sigh. "The injuries Noriyasu-san sustained were very serious and he hovered between life and death for several hours. Unfortunately, his body gave up against the overwhelming odds. Noriyasu-san died of internal bleeding twenty-five minutes ago and didn't respond to our attempts to revive him." the doctor explained. "I am sorry, Urashima-san."

"... Oh. ..." Keitaro mutely responded, his eyes tearing up as he struggled against the urge to cry. Seta had been odd, there was no denying that. But then again, so was he. They had taken to each other like fish to water and Keitaro had truly admired the older man, looked up to him. He had been a larger then life figure, seemingly just as indestructible as Keitaro himself. But, the tunnel collapse had been too much for the older man, the beam crushing his back and rupturing several internal organs.

"Will you be all right?" Doctor Wakaba inquired with a worried note in his voice, which Keitaro hardly noticed.

"I will have to be. For her. For them." Keitaro responded after a few moments, looking down at Sarah and glancing aside at Nyamo. Until he could contact their relatives, he would have to be the one to take care of them.

"Have you contacted her mother?" the doctor asked.

"Sarah's parents are dead. That was why she was staying with Seta, as he was an old friend of her mother and that was what her mother wished for before she died. Seta was all she had... And now he's gone..." Keitaro explained. "I'll contact her relatives and see what they want." he finished despondently, fully aware of the fact that they probably wouldn't care, from what Seta had been telling him.

He looked down at the sleeping child, wondering what would become of her.

"As for Nyamo... Her grandfather was working with Seta, but after he disappeared, she stayed on in the jungle, until Seta returned and she started hanging around him. I don't know... I don't know anything about her family at all, as she never speaks of them. I'll... I'll see what I can find out."

* * *

Keitaro returned to the dig with an inconsolable Sarah, who spent the entire journey curled up on the back seat of the van, sobbing mutely and grieving the loss of her beloved 'daddy'. Nyamo seemed to be taking things a little better and although teary-eyed, she trailed after him like a lost puppy not knowing what else to do. Keitaro left Sarah in the van and took charge over the dig, dismissing the others and wrapping things up, calling Todai and the various sponsors to let them know what had taken place. The dig would have to be shut down for now, pending a decision from the higher ups regarding what to do without Seta to oversee things.

He was still in the process of packing up the equipment, which would have to be taken back to Tokyo University or placed in storage, when Habusa-sensei from Todai's Legal Department showed up, his car coming to a screeching stop before the man leapt out and hurried over to Keitaro. He had come along both to handle whatever legal matters that might crop up and to take the opportunity to get some vacation as well, as the work he had to do, didn't take up more then an hour or two a day, tops. Leaving him with plenty of time to soak up some sun at the beaches, explore Pararakeese and whatnot.

"Urashima-san, I'm glad that I caught you before you left." he said, taking a couple of deep breaths. "I heard what happened to Noriyasu-sensei. My condolences." he added.

"Thank you, Habusa-sensei." Keitaro said, putting a wooden box containing valuable measuring equipment in the back of the van. "What can I help you with, Habusa-sensei?" he asked, turning around and brushing dirt off his hands.

"As you may or may not know, I was Noriyasu-sans personal lawyer and it is in that capacity that I've come to see you." Habusa revealed. "I'm sorry to have to do this in your time of grief, but Noriyasu-san left rather specific instructions in case something would ever happen to him. Up until a few months ago, I would instead have looked up your aunt, Urashima Haruka. But after getting to know you, he changed his last will and testament, as well as my instructions."

"What... What do you mean? What did he say?" Keitaro inquired.

"As you might imagine, he was primarily concerned with his adoptive daughter, MacDougal Sarah, and that she would be taken well care of. He left everything to her, except for the van and a few other things, which will be given to you and your Aunt Haruka. But as Sarah-chan is still a minor, he wanted that you would handle everything until such time as she comes of age. There is also the matter of his unofficial ward, Namo Nyamo." Habusa replied, then pulled out a letter from his suit jacket. "He also wanted me to give you this letter and if you decide to act according to the contents of it, to assist you to the best of my ability."

Keitaro accepted the letter with trembling hands, clearing his throat as he opened the enveloped and pulled out the letter from his late mentor.

_**Keitaro-kun. **_

If you're reading this, then I've left you with a terrible burden. For that, I am sorry.

As my lawyer Habusa Soun should have already told you, I have named you the caretaker of Sarah's inheritance. I am sorry, but I don't trust any of her relatives to handle the responsibility very well. But I know that you will, Keitaro-kun.

Because of that, I am now also going to ask you to shoulder yet another responsibility. I cannot force you to do it, but I ask that you at least take the matter of adopting Sarah into serious consideration. Sarah's remaining relatives are the scum of the earth. If you decide not to adopt her, I ask that you at least do your best to prevent her from winding up with anyone of her relatives. Habusa-san has all the necessary paperwork already prepared, should you decide to adopt my dear Sarah. He also has a set in Haruka's name, in case you do not.

Once again, I am sorry for asking this of you, but I truly believe that you would be good for Sarah and is more then capable of raising her into a fine young woman. And I also believe that she would be good for you, teaching you that there are far more important things in this world then childhood promises.

Noriyasu Seta

Also included was another letter, one that seemed more recent then the first.

_**Keitaro-kun. **_

After coming to Pararakeese, discovering my old mentor missing and finding his young granddaughter, things have complicated further and I'm afraid that I'm going to have to ask you another favour.

Namo Nyamo never knew her father as her mother, who died giving birth, didn't conceive the usual way. She employed the services of a sperm bank, as she wanted a child, but had no desire to put up with a man in order to get one. Nyamo has been living with her grandfather for her entire life and her only living relative, is her Aunt Namo Vyamo. Vyamo supported Nyamo whole-heartedly, which is the reason why she was allowed to stay at the dig and search for her missing grandfather once I rediscovered her. But it has always been an uphill battle against the system, trying to keep her from being adopted, placed into a foster home or some institution.

Thanks to the fact that I was a friend of her grandfather and could 'home'-school Nyamo, we managed to do so. But if you are reading this, then it means that I'm no longer around to keep her away from the system. I have informed the archaeology department that you are my replacement and advised them to hire you in case something should happen to me. With status as a Professor of Tokyo University, perhaps you will be enough to do what I have done and keep Nyamo at the dig and away from the system.

If it is not, Habusa-san has adoption papers for Namo Nyamo as well. Either for you to use, or her Aunt Vyamo.

Best of luck to you, Urashima Keitaro. Though I am no longer there to advise you, know that I hold you in the greatest esteem and that I am fully confident that everything will turn out all right for you and yours.

Noriyasu Seta

"Oh..." Keitaro exclaimed in a muted tone of voice, overwhelmed by the amount of faith Seta had put in him, the amount of trust made clearly evident by the request to adopt Sarah and take care of Nyamo.

"Noriyasu-san spoke very highly of you and truly believed that what he wanted for his Wards would be for the best, if he were to depart this world." Habusa commented.

"It's a bit much to take in..." Keitaro commented. "Can I... Can I think about this for a while, Habusa-sensei?"

"Certainly. I wouldn't want you to make a hasty decision, without taking every aspect of this into consideration. This is a decision that has the potential to radically change your life." Habusa agreed. "As I myself am a parent, I wouldn't want you to make an uninformed decision only to come to regret it later. Here is my card. Call me or come see me at the Hotel, when you've made your decision." he continued and handed Keitaro his business card, then a couple of papers. "This is the deed for the van, the documents pertaining to your stewardship of Sarah-chans inheritance and the other documentation Seta asked me to provide you with."

"Thank you, Habusa-sensei." Keitaro thanked the older man. "I will call you in a couple of days, when I've made my decision."

"No problem, Urashima-san." Habusa assured him. "Once again, you have my condolences. Noriyasu-san was a remarkable man and I am honoured to have known him."

"As am I." Keitaro replied, smiling faintly with tears in his eyes, as he recalled his mentor as he had been.

"I will be looking forward to hearing from you, Urashima-san. Farewell." Habusa finished.

"I will. Two or three days at the most." Keitaro assured him. "Godspeed, Habusa-sensei."

He watched absently as Habusa Soun returned to his car and drove off, then Keitaro re-read the letters Seta had left him, before he looked over the other documents too. He gave off a low whistle at the net value of what Seta had left Sarah, but considering how he had lived, it wasn't all that surprising. Since he lived out of his van the last couple of years, he saved a lot on rent and was able to tuck away some money every month. Add that, to what she'd get through the life insurance on Seta that Habusa had included a copy of, and there was more then enough money to provide for Sarah as she grew up and still leave her with a little nest egg to start out her life with once she came of age.

Keitaro didn't mind so much that Seta had named him the caretaker of her inheritance, he could handle financial matters pretty well as he'd discovered after becoming the owner as well as manager of the Hinata Sou.

There was also a second and larger life insurance, one arranged more recently, that named Namo Nyamo as the beneficiary. She wouldn't be quite as well off as Sarah, but at least it should pay for her upbringing and education, though not much else. There were stewardship papers for her too, but that one hadn't been filled out with the steward's name. Probably because Nyamo at least had Aunt Vyamo and Seta believed he could trust her to handle Nyamo's money in a responsible manner, if Keitaro didn't take her in.

No, the financial matters didn't worry him. What did concern him, were the adoption issues.

What did he know about being a father? Just what was it that convinced Seta that he could become a good father for Sarah, when he could just barely handle being her babysitter? And Nyamo? She wasn't much of a problem, that much was true. But she was older then Sarah. Could he handle having a daughter that was just above a handful of years younger then he was? Adopting her would be just like adopting Shinobu!

Not to mention just how much his life would change, if he did adopt one or both of them. He would be a father! A father! Him! Without even having had sex! A virgin father, Ronin for the third year in a row, if the University didn't decide to hire him. Abused manager of a girls dorm and big-time looser. Just what sort of potential father qualities had Seta actually seen in him? Could someone as miserable as him, actually be good for anyone? Wouldn't being around him, actually be detrimental to Sarah and Nyamo?

These were the kind of thoughts that took Keitaro's full attention, before he was brought back to the real world by outside influences. Or at least, a outside influence.

"Hey, dork." Sarah greeted him subduedly, no real fire in her greeting. Even the 'dork' sounded half-hearted. "What'cha doin' spacin' out over here?"

"Just thinking about... Stuff." Keitaro absently replied. "How are you holding up?" he asked her.

"How do you think I'm doing?" she snorted, sniffling a bit. He handed her a hankie, which she accepted and proceeded to blow her nose with a great honking sound. "He's really gone, isn't he?"

"Yeah." Keitaro agreed after a few moments, looking out over the dig. Watching a mental slide of Seta at work, Seta taking a break and Seta laughing over a camp-fire dinner, with Sarah clinging on his back with a great big smile on her lips and Nyamo shyly hanging around in the background, much like the Shinobu she so resembled. "Damn, but I'm going to miss him." he commented.

"You and me both, dork." Sarah said, then sniffled again, wiping tears out of her eyes. Keitaro's heart ached for her and he put a gentle hand on the back of her neck. "Hands off, pervert..." Sarah muttered half-heartedly. None the less, he was just about to do so, when one of her hands landed on the back of his, holding it down where it was. "Not... Not just yet, though. ... Please?" she added in such a faint voice that he couldn't hear what she actually said, but he understood what she meant anyway.

He tightened his hold somewhat and that was the straw that broke the camels back, she spun around and slammed against his legs, wrapping her arms around him as she started crying out loud. He felt his heart constrict and without hesitating, picked her up and hugged her close, wrapping his own arms around her, as his own tears finally started flowing freely. He could faintly see Nyamo off to the side, hard at work as usual, but as she spotted the two of them, she too succumbed to tears and came over to join them, wrapping her arms around his waist as he let his left fall down to her back, hugging her close as the three of them mourned their loss.

* * *

Keitaro parked the van behind Hinata Sou, leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes for a few moments. He didn't look forward to letting everybody else know about Seta's demise, not at all. Kaolla and Shinobu hardly knew him, so they probably wouldn't be so affected, other then by his death affected their friend Sarah. Motoko didn't know him so well either, but she had trained with him after being defeated by him at the beach and he knew just how much she looked forward to their sessions. Naru and Kitsune, had known him even longer then he had and both of them had laboured under crushes for him. They would take it hard.

Haruka...

Her relationship with Seta was somewhat of a mystery. They had been very close at one time, Seta still saw them as very close. Haruka on the other hand, acted as if he was nothing but a nuisance, with scarce moments that were few and far in between, when she acted differently. What she really felt about him now, was hard to tell. But he suspected that she would take it hard, very hard.

He opened his eyes again and climbed out of the car, opening the sliding door in the back, unveiling the sleeping kids. After their mutual crying session, Sarah had fallen asleep in his arms and he'd put her in the car, covering her with Seta's labcoat, as he wrapped things up at the dig with Nyamo's help. Sarah had remained asleep as he delivered the equipment to a storage facility near the airport. He had spoken with Aunt Vyamo at length and as the old woman was currently at a hospital recovering from hip surgery, hardly able to take care of Nyamo, she had given her permission for him to bring Nyamo with him to Japan.

Other then a few mutual crying sessions, the flight back had been without incidents. He'd gotten Seta's van from the long-term parking lot and driven them all over to Tokyo University, where he met with the headmaster and the department head of the archaeology department to let them know everything that had happened and what he had done as he shut down the dig. Much to his surprise, they agreed with his decisions and told him that he'd done a good job, before he was dismissed and could drive back to Hinata Sou.

Sarah still spent most of her time either crying or sleeping fitfully and he found himself unwilling to wake her up. She would probably need all the sleep she could get, in the times to come. Nyamo slept more then usual as well, but seemed to handle matters much better then Sarah. Then again, she hadn't been as close to Seta as Sarah and she was older, more wise in the ways of the world. Besides, she had a lot of experience with mourning, after her grandfather had gone missing.

He picked Sarah up, which woke Nyamo as well, and carried Sarah outside. Nyamo rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and clambered out, softly sliding the door shut, before she followed him towards the main building.

"Hiya, Keitaro! Glad to have you back!" Su greeted him cheerfully from her perch on the back of the couch as he made his way to the living room, still carrying his precious burden. Then she appeared to take note of his serious expression, Sarah's tear-streaked cheeks, the tanned Shinobu-clone behind him and grew more sombre. "What's the matter?" she asked anxiously.

"Could you gather everyone in the kitchen?" Keitaro requested, as he gently placed Sarah onto the couch and tucked her in with the white coat still wrapped around her. "Nyamo. Could you be a dear and watch over Sarah for me?" he inquired and she nodded sombrely, seating herself next to Sarah. She reached out and gently stroked the younger child's hair as she slept.

"Okay." Kaolla agreed and clambered down, turning off the TV, before she scampered off in an unusually calm manner. Two minutes later, Keitaro stood at the head of the table as the residents, as well as Aunt Haruka who had come by to use the hot spring, gathered around the table.

"I'm afraid that I have some bad news." Keitaro started, falling silent as he felt a lump lodge itself in his throat. He harkled and swallowed, before he continued. "There was an accident at the dig. A support beam collapsed in a tunnel and the roof was brought down on those of us who were there. I managed all right, no lasting injuries, but... One of the others was standing right underneath one of the roof supports when the beam broke. He would most likely have died, if Seta hadn't leapt to his rescue and pushed him aside. But Seta... The support struck him instead and broke his back, crushing several of his ribs. I drove both of them to the hospital, but... Seta died on the operating table." he explained and sniffled, wiping a few tears out of his left eye.

"No!" Naru protested, all colour being drained from her face, as the news sunk in. Kitsune looked at him in disbelief for a few moments, before his grave expression made it clear that he wasn't telling a very bad joke and she lowered her head, letting out a few sobs. Motoko looked absolutely crushed for a few moments, before she schooled her expression to neutrality. Kaolla and Shinobu looked shocked and sad, the kind and gentle Shinobu shedding several tears for the departed archaeologist.

Haruka...

Haruka was staring straight ahead with an empty expression. She removed the cigarette from her mouth and slowly put it out in the ashtray on the table. She stared silently as the smoke slowly died out and trailed upwards towards the ceiling. Then she leaned forward, crossed her arms on the table and buried her face against them, her whole body shaking from silent sobs.

"Are... Are you sure?" Naru asked and Keitaro nodded.

"I was at the hospital when the doctor returned from the operation. He told me everything, since Seta didn't have any living relatives other then Sarah." Keitaro replied and Naru started crying as well, sobbing mutely as she grieved her old tutor and schoolgirl crush.

"What about... Sarah? What'll happen to her now?" Kaolla asked, wiping a few tears from her own eyes, her face more sombre then he'd ever seen it before.

"I... I don't know." Keitaro replied, looking over at Haruka. "Seta asked... His lawyer came when I was shutting down the dig after we left the hospital. He told me about Seta's will and gave me two letters from him. He wanted me to adopt her." Keitaro revealed, causing a complete silence to fall over the room. Haruka slowly raised her head from the crook of her arms, staring at him.

"You?" was all she said.

"He wanted me to consider it." Keitaro replied. "He also left adoption papers in your name as well." he added and scratched the back of his head. "Did the two of you ever talk about this?" he asked.

"Yeah, once." Haruka agreed. "Did you two?"

"No. Never. I never even had the faintest idea that he even had thoughts along those kind of lines. He always seemed indestructible to me, almost like a force of nature." Keitaro replied. "Does Sarah know?"

"Not that I know of. The two of us has never talked about it anyway." Haruka sighed, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater in a distinctly un-lady-like manner. "Have you talked with her about it?"

"No. Not yet." he replied.

"Are you going to do it?" Haruka asked.

"I... I don't know. I don't think I'd be a good father." Keitaro admitted after a few moments. "Seta didn't want her to wind up with any of her remaining relatives, he made that perfectly clear in his letter."

"Yeah, I can see how he would have wanted to avoid that." Haruka agreed, her lips twisting into a disgusted sneer. "Her mother was the sweetest creature imaginable and I never understood how she could have possibly turned out that way, as the rest of her family and relatives were some of the worst people it has ever been my displeasure to meet."

"Would... Would you do it?" Keitaro asked.

"Don't base your decision on what I might or might not do." Haruka finally advised him after almost a full minute of silence. "This isn't a decision that should be influenced by something like that. This is all about her and you, not anybody else." she clarified and Keitaro nodded, though he would have dearly liked to know what Haruka had in mind. "If I tell you that I won't do it, you would no doubt feel some foolish obligation to take her in and do it because of that. If I tell you that I would do it, you would no doubt not really consider doing it yourself, counting on me to take care of her. Both of them would be equally stupid decisions, as they would have been made for the wrong reasons."

"When Seta told me about this, I gave it a lot of thought and I will give you this advice, nephew." Haruka continued and lit another cigarette. "Don't think about what anyone else can or can't give her. Think about what you can do and perhaps more importantly, what you can't do. Think about her needs, her desires and weather you can meet them or not. Consider what you would have to give up and think really carefully about if you could actually do that. Consider what you would get in return. Think really carefully about this, Keitaro, because this could very well be the most important decision you'll ever make. Everything else you've done or decided before this, pales in comparison. We are talking about the life of a young girl here, a life that you can either make or break by your decision. You'll also need to talk with her about it. If I were you, I wouldn't make the same decision without talking with her about it first."

"What do you guys think?" Keitaro asked, looking around the table.

"I told you, Keitaro. This isn't about them. It's about you and her. Nobody else." Haruka interjected before anyone could reply. "This isn't a decision you should make based on what anyone else thinks. It should be all about you and Sarah. You can ask for input, of course. But you shouldn't put too much stock in whatever is said by anyone who isn't Sarah."

"I... I guess you're right." Keitaro responded and sighed, shaking his head.

"Who's the new kid?" Kaolla asked, the only one who had seen Nyamo so far. "She looks like Shinobu!"

"That's Namo Nyamo. Her grandfather used to work with Seta, but went missing some time ago. Seta was taking care of her, as they searched for her grandfather. Her only living relative is an Aunt, who's in the hospital recovering from surgery right now, so I'm taking care of her for now." Keitaro explained. "If... If things don't work out all right anyway, Seta asked me to adopt her as well." he revealed, causing another round of gasps and shocked exclamations. "I'll be in my room, thinking... About all this. Try not to disturb me unless it's important, please? And... And look after Sarah and Nyamo, please?"

"Of course, Keitaro." Haruka replied, nodding and focusing a stern look at everybody around the table. "Right?" she asked and got a chorus of 'Yes, of course!' in response.

"Thanks everybody." he said, then made his way to his room. He had a lot to think about before he would be ready to talk to Sarah and Nyamo about it.

The End! ( For now... )


	2. Two

Poppa Dork PG-13  
Niklas "Hawk" Jonsson

Summary: When Seta one day doesn't manage to beat the odds piled against him, Keitaro is stunned to realize that the eccentric archealogist has left everything to his young protegee. Including Sarah and Nyamo! Keitaro now finds himself a single father, trying to live his life and taking care of his new job, while raising his young 'daughters'.

Disclaimer: Love Hina, Hinata Sou and whatnot are not mine, though I certainly wish they were. The story is mine though, all mine. This story deals with some very unpleasant things. If this disturbs you, don't read.  
If the layout looks screwy or symbols seems to be missing, you're probably reading the quickedit-mangled version of this fic on ff dot net, if it grates on your nerves too much, read it on hawksgalaxy dot com or something.

Feedback/Flames: Yes, please. Both of them are equally fun to read, although I must admit that I greatly prefer the first variety. :)  
I can be found on ICQ as 21771860, MSN Messenger/E-mail as iamhawk at yahoo dot com, though not very frequently as real life lately interferes with my online existance more then I'd like. More stories are available at my nifty lil' site at hawksgalaxy dot com or by clicking on my handle up above.

"speech"  
emphasis/shouts/Kindred Domination/post-hypnotic triggers  
/thoughts/  
/telepathy/  
translation  
+soundeffect/radio/telephone conversation/TV+

Previously, on 'Poppa Dork'

"What do you guys think?" Keitaro asked, looking around the table.

"I told you, Keitaro. This isn't about them. It's about you and her. Nobody else." Haruka interjected before anyone could reply. "This isn't a decision you should make based on what anyone else thinks. It should be all about you and Sarah. You can ask for input, of course. But you shouldn't put too much stock in whatever is said by anyone who isn't Sarah."

"I... I guess you're right." Keitaro responded and sighed, shaking his head.

"Who's the new kid?" Kaolla asked, the only one who had seen Nyamo so far. "She looks like Shinobu!"

"That's Namo Nyamo. Her grandfather used to work with Seta, but went missing some time ago. Seta was taking care of her, as they searched for her grandfather. Her only living relative is an Aunt, who's in the hospital recovering from surgery right now, so I'm taking care of her for now." Keitaro explained. "If... If things don't work out all right anyway, Seta asked me to adopt her as well." he revealed, causing another round of gasps and shocked exclamations. "I'll be in my room, thinking... About all this. Try not to disturb me unless it's important, please? And... And look after Sarah and Nyamo, please?"

"Of course, Keitaro." Haruka replied, nodding and focusing a stern look at everybody around the table. "Right?" she asked and got a chorus of 'Yes, of course!' in response.

"Thanks everybody." he said, then made his way to his room. He had a lot to think about before he would be ready to talk to Sarah and Nyamo about it.

Roll credits

* * *

Chapter Two:

"Hey."

Keitaro blinked several times, then slowly raised his head to the infamous hole-in-the-ceiling that had been the cause of so many wondrous encounters of the unclad kind and following painful experiences since he became the manager of Hinata Sou. Currently, Naru's head and shoulders were sticking down out of the hole, her hair hanging down in a straight line towards his floor.

"Hey." he added and stretched, raising his arms and worked out a few kinks he hadn't even been aware of until Naru had interrupted his ponderings. "What can I do for you, Narusegawa?" he asked politely.

"I wanted to ask you if you're really seriously considering Sarah's adoption?" Naru asked after a few moments of quiet observation, an unusually serious look on her face which looked really out of place with her being upside down from Keitaro's perspective.

"Of course I'm considering it seriously. There's no way I could do otherwise." Keitaro responded. "But if you want to know if I've made up my mind yet, then the answer is no." he finished with a tired sigh.

"Keitaro!" Naru exclaimed, then dropped down into his room, grabbing hold of the edge of the hole to spin herself into an upright position, before dropping to the floor. "If you become a single father, how do you expect to handle your studies?" she demanded to know.

"I won't be studying if I do decide to adopt, Narusegawa." Keitaro replied after a few moments. "Then I'll try to find a job or perhaps turn the dorm back into a hotel again. Something that gives me a steady income. Without that, I probably won't be allowed to adopt in the first place."

"B-but what about ou... I mean, what about your promise to meet up with your childhood friend at Todai?" Naru asked, almost having asked 'What about our promise to get into Todai together?' before she caught herself and altered her statement.

She didn't even want to think about him even considering changing the Hinata Sou back into a hotel. There was no way her parents would allow her to stay on if he did that. No way. So, she turned her attention away from that, trying to bury that unpleasant possibility somewhere deep inside the murky depths of her mind, alongside with all her other deepest rooted fears.

"Narusegawa... We're talking about the lives of one or two children here, if I am going to adopt, I'll do my best to be a good father. The promise... I can't allow myself to care about that. I will have to push that aside and instead focus on Sarah and/or Nyamo, make sure that their needs are being met, before I can start to worry about one of mine. One that in the long run, perhaps doesn't even matter all that much."

"Doesn't even matter all that much!" Naru exclaimed, shrinking back from Keitaro. The Keitaro she knew, would never have uttered such a statement. Whoever this was just couldn't be her Keitaro. Some sort of fake, perhaps? Maybe Kaolla had decided to build a Mecha-Keitaro instead of a new Mecha-Tama?

"Yes." Keitaro simply replied. "It feels as if this is the first time in years that I've been able to think clearly. Having something of real substance, a serious issue to focus on, have allowed me to see for myself just how insignificant my previous dreams have been." he continued absently, a serious and faintly distracted expression on his face. "Get into Todai? Fine, an admirable goal if it's done for the right reasons. In order to get a good education, so one can get a good job later on in life. But the reason why I tried to get in? To meet up with some girl I can't even remember the name of? A girl I can meet anyway, probably just by asking grandma, Haruka, dad or mom if they remember who else stayed at the Hinata Inn around the same time as I did. It's ridiculous, I never even considered just asking someone for her name before. Like I said, it feels like I'm able to think clearly for the first time since my childhood years." he revealed and smiled sadly at Narusegawa.

"Perhaps that is why I had such a hard time studying. While my goal was to reach Todai, the reason I aimed for it wasn't to study there, like yours. Since Todai for me was more of a means, then a goal in itself, perhaps I subconsciously dismissed studying as unnecessary. I don't really know for sure, but it is possible." Keitaro revealed and indicated an opened algebra book lying next to him. "I had a look through it a while earlier, it doesn't seem nearly as hard as it once used too."

"Keitaro... You can't become a father! You're too young!" Narusegawa protested.

"Dad was eighteen when I was conceived. Mom was sixteen. I'm older now then any of them were when they got me." Keitaro countered. "You've got pretty young parents yourself, don't you?"

"Keitaro, you don't have the faintest clue about parenting. How do you think you'll be able to handle raising someone like Sarah? Or Nyamo? Nyamo isn't that much younger then you are, for Kami's sake!" Naru ranted on.

"I know." Keitaro replied and nodded seriously. "It's just eight years separating Nyamo and me. It's not an easy decision." he mused and rose from the ground, striding off to the window where he looked out at the green hillside surrounding the Hinata Sou and the man-made buildings surrounding this lush green oasis he now called home.

"It is! Just say no, you can't possibly adopt either one of them!" Naru snapped.

"Before Seta died, I would have agreed with you right away." Keitaro calmly replied, acknowledging all his former faults as he did so. He was too hasty, he was clumsy, way too easily excitable, focused on all the wrong things, he was too impulsive and only rarely thought things through as he should have. So many of the mishaps he'd suffered through could have been solved if he'd just stopped to think for a few moments. Many others could have been avoided if he'd just learned to speak up for himself at some point in his past life. Many others, if he'd showed a bit of restraint at the time. Looking back on his whole life as he did now and had been for the last couple of hours, he found himself loathing how he had acted in the past.

/Geesh, Naru was right when she called me immature./ he reasoned. /No matter what I decide to do, I have to start acting my age instead of just panicking my way through the rest of my life as I have up until now./

"But now, the girls don't have the luxury of me making a snap decision like that. I will have to carefully consider every possible angle before making my decision. It's the lives of two young girls that are at stake here, after all." he continued and sighed morosely as he kept on contemplating the situation, circumstances and what to do about them. "Sarah has horrible relatives, apparently. If I don't take her in, she might wind up with them, or else she might be shipped off to America and a foster home there, being raised by people she'll never have met before. If I take her in, at least she'll have somewhat familiar faces around her and she'll be allowed to stay here in Japan." Keitaro explained.

"Nyamo is somewhat better off, as her Aunt is a wonderful person. But she's just been through surgery and is in no position to take care of Nyamo at the moment. There's also the issue of her missing grandfather, Nyamo wants to keep on searching for him. But he's gone missing on Parakeese, which isn't exactly a touristy place. Just about the only outsiders who ever go there, are excavators, archaeologists, their various assistants and people with their own boats. I might be able to get a job as an assistant on some dig, as I'm already familiar with the area and the work there. I can take Nyamo there, hardly anyone else could offer Nyamo such an opportunity." he finished with a far-away look in his eyes, still looking out through the window.

"But how are you going to provide for them, Keitaro?" Naru demanded. "They're two growing young girls. They need clothes, food, education, health care and thousands of other little things. Even if you could get a job as an assistant somewhere, that would mean that you would have to travel off to some dig, leaving Sarah and Nyamo on their own back here!"

"I know." Keitaro agreed and sighed. "A decision is still far far off, I fear."

"Mouuuuuuuuu! Keitaro, you idiot!" Naru growled, then slugged Keitaro across the room before she strode out through the door, muttering angrily to herself.

"Owie..." Keitaro whimpered in the corner of the room he'd wound up in, standing on his head and shoulders, with the rest of his body leaning up against the wall.

* * *

+Knock+Knock+Knock+

"'ey, Keitaro."

Keitaro turned around and nodded in recognition as Kitsune strolled into his room, closing the door behind her as she sashayed over to the table he was seated at, plunking herself down opposite him and putting a bottle of brandy down in the middle of the table.

"Hey, Kitsune. To what do I owe this honour?" Keitaro asked, observing his inscrutable tenant with a gaze that shifted between curious and apprehensive, wondering what she might have up her sleeve.

"Figured ya'd need a drink right about now." she responded and nodded at the bottle. "How're things coming along?" she asked.

"Naru sent you to talk me out of this, eh?" Keitaro asked with a faint smile.

"Naw. Seeing how Naru stormed out of the building an hour ago, I guessed that she'd been here to see ya, but she didn't stop for long enough for me to ask what she'd gotten outta ya, if anything." Kitsune replied. "So. Seeing as how she got so upset and seeing as how I didn't manage to track her down when I looked for 'er, I figured that I should see how ya're holding out through all o' this."

"Well enough." Keitaro replied evasively. "How are Sarah and Nyamo? I feel a little bad about just locking myself away like this, but..." he started, but trailed off, not finding the words to finish his sentence.

"Sarah's still asleep. Kaolla's showing Nyamo some of her inventions to keep her entertained." Kitsune replied only to hold her hands up in a warding gesture as Keitaro seemed about to leap into a running position and dash out of the room. "Haruka is keeping an eye on what Kaolla brings down from her room to show Nyamo. Nothing that goes 'boom' or has any sharp edges. Though I think Haruka does it more to keep herself busy then out of any real concern." Kitsune added, which served to significantly calm Keitaro down and get him out of his agitated state.

Kaolla was a sweet girl, truly. She wouldn't intentionally harm a fly.

Problem was, she seemed to have no idea whatsoever just what could harm those around her and could cause a great deal of it without really meaning to.

Sorta.

Well, who knew?

Sure, he'd been kicked, punched, shot at, tied up and nearly been blown up by her, but he could survive that sort of thing. The others couldn't and she never seemed to play quite that rough with them. So perhaps she did know exactly what could harm those around her and made damn sure to never quite cross that line, even if she certainly skirted the edge of it from time to time.

/There's just no way of telling with her./ he reasoned.

"Well, that's a relief." Keitaro sighed with relief as he sunk down into a comfortable slouch again, recrossing his legs.

"Probably overkill anyway, she hasn't even tried to bring out any of the big guns yet." Kitsune shrugged. "She seems a bit more mellow then usual." she added and Keitaro nodded. Kaolla had seemed sort of subdued since he returned, apparently even she took death seriously, something he almost would have doubted previously. Before now, he wouldn't have believed it if anybody had told him that Kaolla could be serious or sombre while fully awake. Sleeping or when she was tired was another thing, but the times when she was awake and didn't have a huge grin on her face and some dangerous invention nearby were few and far between. "So, we've got time. How're ya really holding up?"

"I could probably use a shot or two from that, to tell the truth." Keitaro eventually admitted, nodding at the bottle, but he signed for her to remain seated as she prepared to stand up and fetch a couple of glasses. "But I don't think it's a good idea for me to drink right now." he explained and Kitsune shrugged, accepting his calm declaration without protest.

"'Sent you to talk me out of this', eh?" Kitsune said instead, tilting her head as she considered him. "So, I guess that means that ya've decided to go ahead and do it?"

"No. But the fact that I was even considering it seemed to upset Naru." Keitaro replied with a sad little frown. "She's a little difficult to understand at times." he admitted with a sigh.

"Not really." Kitsune countered. "She's easy to figure out, at least once one knows her as well as I do." she added and smiled sadly. "She's worried, Keitaro. She's always been very concerned about what others think and feel about her. When she first hit puberty and started developing the body you've been drooling over since you first met her, people started treating her differently. Girls got envious over her beauty and boys lost their heads over it. She lost a couple of good friends over it and the boys who were into her almost never cared about her as a person, only how good she looked."

"Then, came that whole mess with her parents and her new little sister and Naru left to go here, because she felt like an outsider in her own family. She's wrong of course, but she believed that she wasn't wanted, that her new family only cared about Mei-chan. Then she met up with Seta and got hooked on him, which didn't exactly improve matters. She had the hugest crush on him and he never noticed, or at least never let on if he did. Then along came you..." Kitsune continued and smiled. "You got all hung up on her looks as well and she was probably prepared to dismiss you as just another pervert, but you've shown time and time again that you're not just interested in her because of her looks. You're actually interested in her as a person as well."

Kitsune smiled and leaned back, putting her hands down on the ground behind her and resting her weight on those as she observed her now attentive listener.

"She'll probably deny it until the day she dies, but she is interested in you, Keitaro. Very interested. I can tell." she continued and grinned. "You may or may not have noticed this, as you can be a bit air headed most of the time, but she gets really jealous about you. Since you're the first boy who's ever been interested in her as a person, she's very concerned and possessive about your feelings for her. That's been the situation up until now. While she may not have shown it all that often, she's thrilled that you like her for what she is, not what she looks like. The girl who believes that she's unlovable and that nobody wants her around, has finally found somebody who does." she added and then grew serious. "And now, you've got something else to focus on. Something that isn't her or the goal you two have in common. She's worried that you'll loose interest in her, that you'll forget all about her. That she'll go back to being the unloved one." Kitsune announced and leaned forward again, resting her hands on her knees.

"That's what's going on with her, Keitaro. She's afraid of loosing you." Kitsune finished.

"Wow." Keitaro mumbled, completely awed at what Kitsune had just revealed.

"Like I said, she's not that hard to figure out once you know her as well as I do." Kitsune replied with a faint shrug.

"Thanks for telling me, Kitsune." Keitaro told his squinty-eyed friend.

"Nae bother. I figured you should know, so you won't let worry over Naru distract you from deciding what to do about Sarah and Nyamo." Kitsune replied.

"You're a good friend, Kitsune." Keitaro told her with a friendly smile.

"Tsh." Kitsune shrugged it off, feeling a bit uncomfortable with getting compliments. "I just want you to make the right decision for the right reasons. No kid deserves having their future being decided by a clouded and distracted mind."

"Like yours was?" Keitaro asked and Kitsune stiffened, her eyes opening fully as she stared silently at him. "I didn't mean to pry about it and I am sorry for it. But... Your father came here once." he revealed and Kitsune gasped, shrinking back and trembling as her eyes swivelled back and fourth, like she was a trapped animal looking for an escape route. "You weren't here then, but he hung around for a while and talked a bit with me before he left."

"You... Talked with my father?" Kitsune asked, swallowing nervously and wondering why her voice sounded so strained, so squeaky. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"He asked me to keep silent about it and at the time, I thought that was the right thing to do." Keitaro replied and sighed, looking down at the ground. "Like many of my other previous decisions, it's one I've come to reconsider over the last couple of hours." he admitted and let out another sigh. "He misses you, Kitsune."

"Yeah, right! I'm sure he does, the bastard!" Kitsune snarled and grabbed the bottle on the table, opening it and drinking straight from the bottle.

"He's laid off drinking, Kitsune." Keitaro revealed which caused Kitsune to gasp in shock and stare at him with a flabbergasted expression for a couple of seconds, before she snorted in disbelief.

"Yeah, for a week or two, until he can earn, borrow or steal enough cash to buy himself more to drink!" she snapped and took another large gulp straight from the bottle.

"He said that he's been clean for fifteen months. That was three months ago." Keitaro revealed and Kitsune gasped again.

"Fifteen mon... No... No way. He must be lying. There's no way he could have... No. No way." Kitsune spluttered.

"I only know what he told me." Keitaro admitted. "But he knows that he's done you wrong and he misses you, Kitsune. You don't have to do it, but perhaps you should at least consider calling him sometime."

"No... No, I don't... No." Kitsune stuttered, unable to finish a complete sentence, but still managing to make it fully understood that she was unwilling to even consider it despite her current linguistic difficulties.

"Think about it sometime. Preferably when you're sober. That's all I ask. Just like no kid deserves to have their future decided by a drunk, a parent deserves the same." Keitaro said, pointedly looking at the bottle in Kitsune's hand.

"I'm not a drunk!" she protested.

"Something upset you and the first thing you do, is reach for the booze." Keitaro responded. "Like I said, I've come to regret many decisions I've made after thinking about my life these last couple of hours. Not getting on your case because of your drinking habits, is one of them. Consider the rest of this week your grace period, Kitsune. Starting next week, I won't allow you to set a bad example to the others any longer. If you can't get your drinking under control, I'll have to do something about it."

"What!" Kitsune exclaimed, leaping up onto her feet and glaring down at Keitaro. "Keep your big nose out of my business! What I do or don't is no business of yours."

"As long as you live here, I'm making it my business, Kitsune." Keitaro informed her and stood up, calmly facing her down. "Naru is grown enough to make her own decisions and handle the outcome of your decisions. But there's Shinobu, Kaolla and Motoko to consider as well. Not to forget Sarah and/or Nyamo, if I do decide to adopt. I won't have you setting a bad example to any of them anymore."

"And what are you going to do about it, you wimp! Throw me out?" Kitsune laughed.

"If I have to." Keitaro calmly replied, drawing a shocked gasp from Kitsune who staggered back away from Keitaro with a stunned expression on her face.

"What! You'd throw me out!" Kitsune exclaimed.

"I would prefer it if it didn't come to that." Keitaro said and calmly made his way over to Kitsune, putting his right hand on her left shoulder. "You're a friend, Kitsune. A good friend. I should have done something about this ages ago, instead of just letting you keep on ruining your life like you have." he said and pulled her against his chest, wrapping his arms around her. "You won't be alone. I'll be next to you every step of the way, you can count on that. But I will not let you keep on drinking here like you have before and that's a promise you can take to the bank." he finished in a firm voice, letting her know that there was no way in hell he was budging on that point.

"But..." Kitsune started to protest, but couldn't find the words as she stood there, leaning against him with her arms held limply at her sides, the bottle still gripped tightly in her right hand as Keitaro rocked her back and forth.

She didn't understand why he did that, or why he kept on telling her that things would be all right, until she noticed that she was soaking his sweater with her tears.

The End! ( For now... )


End file.
